Another holdover from a previous administration is departing his post – the third in less than a week. This time it’s Mike Fleischer, who has been around since the Pataki days. He sent an email to Thruway Authority and Canal Corp. staffers today informing them that he will be giving up his executive director job …

The Senate Democrats have tapped Michael Murphy to replace former spokesman Austin Shafran, who departed earlier this month to take a job with the Cuomo administration (vice president of public affairs at ESDC). Murphy, like Shafran, hails from Queens. Shafran came to the conference after a stint in Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf’s shop, which made …

The Senate does not appear likely to return to Albany any time soon – at least not as long as the PEF contract remains up in the air. Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos told Susan Arbetter on the Capitol Pressroom he sees no reason to bring his members back to Albany, even though his house …

New Yorkers were heartened by the results of the unusually productive 2011 legislative session, with 48 percent saying state government appears to have become less dysfunctional. Half of voters – including a majority of Democrats, independents and voters from New York City, and a plurality of voters from upstate and the downstate suburbs – said …

It now appears to be a foregone conclusion that New York’s judges will receive a pay raise – and a fairly substantial one at that. After a delay caused by appointment lags, the Judicial Compensation Commission finally got to work this week. Its members seem to agree that 12 years without a salary increase has …

Here’s the letter I received from US Attorney Preet Bharara informing me that I was “intercepted” pursuant to wire taps connected to the Sen. Carl Kruger, Richard Libsky et al corruption case. City Hall’s editor Adam Lisberg reported earlier today that a whole slew of these letters went out, which doesn’t surprise me in the …

After an unusually successful first legislative session in which he netted an on-time budget and saw all his top policy proposals passed, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is now turning his attention to improving the state’s economy. During an interview with the Post’s Fred Dicker on TALK 1300 this morning, Cuomo said his administration’s next focus will …

Gov. Andrew Cuomo just announced that Larry Schwartz, a Paterson administration holdover who has been serving as a senior advisor on the second floor, will be appointed secretary to the governor to replace Steve Cohen. “Steve has served with dedication and distinction,” Cuomo said in a press release. “Steve has been a critical member of …

A reader forwarded an email sent out yesterday by a PEF member at the the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Fish Wildlife & Marine Resources Office confirming that the agency is being targeted for yet another round of layoffs. The target, according to the message, is 5 percent of the PEF workforce statewide, which is 86 …